


Dream/Come/True

by Janet_Coleman_Sides



Category: Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman | Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
Genre: M/M, Telepathic Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2013-01-10
Packaged: 2017-11-25 01:03:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/633435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Janet_Coleman_Sides/pseuds/Janet_Coleman_Sides
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ken finds himself making a confession to Joe, with an unexpected response. Part Two picks up Joe's point of view. Part Three, dialogue only, brings it on home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dream

"I don't know how else to tell you this except to say it, Joe," Ken began, looking down at his nervous fingertips tapping on the table. One, two, three. One, two, three. _Waltz right in and say it, Washio!_ He drained the last of his bottle of beer, breathed deeply, and lifted his eyes to Joe's.

Joe watched him intently -- alerted, no doubt, by the tone of Ken's voice. His knuckles were white on the brown glass beer bottle, and in contrast his eyes were unusually dark, pupils wide, brows lowered as almost always.

Ken breathed again, then said it, holding his gaze. "I love you, Joe. I -- well. I won't blame you if you punch me in the mouth. But I'm tired of Jun and everyone else bugging me about making Jun's dream come true. No one asked me what _my_ dream was, and -- I'm in love with you, really in love with you..." He sounded like an idiot. He stopped himself before he could blurt out any of the other speeches he had considered. 

Time screeched to a halt, hovering over the table expectantly. For a long and terrifying moment, Joji Asakura's face was as shocked and blank as a Pompeii victim's. Ken's heart plummeted in sick, dizzy freefall, and his eyes fell with it. What had he done? Why couldn't he have been strong, kept this terrible secret a secret as he knew he should have done? Joe was horrified! What was he going to do?

The empty beer in his hand offered a chance to defuse the moment, take the pressure off Joe by backing away. Ken lurched out of his seat and to the fridge in the corner, feeling not-quite-attached to his body. _K'so._ Joe had the last bottle. The fridge was empty.

When he turned back toward the table, Joe had him by a fistful of his shirt and was shaking him like a puppy. Ken instinctively twisted free, but Joe caught him by the shoulder in a bruising grip and wouldn't let go. His eyes looked wild, strange. 

"Is this -- a _dream_?" cried Joe, shaking Ken harder. "Or -- or are you Katse?? Tell me NOW --" He was shaking visibly. Oh, gods, this was as bad as it could be. Ken cursed himself for five kinds of fool. "It's me, Joe. Let go! I'm sorry I said any--"

"No, wait," said Joe. The wild look was still evident. It was like the look he got sometimes, when he was about to go off and pull some crazy stunt alone... "You're really Ken? Who'd I hit when we first met?"

"My _mother_!" said Ken, outraged, and the bruising force subsided, though Joe still did not release Ken's shoulder. His expression looked less ominous, though no less strange. In fact, Ken was certain he had never seen such a look on the beloved and familiar face, and he still did not know what was coming next... he made sure to keep his tongue well back of his teeth, just in case Joe _did_ hit him in the mouth.

Joe glared at him a moment longer, then nodded and... relaxed, sort of. But he still looked a little... fey? Yes. That was the word. Strange and wild: fey.

"Then this _is_ a dream," Joe said, softly. "It's gotta be a dream." The hand on Ken's shoulder slid to the back of his neck and then, all at once, Joe was actually pulling Ken into his arms, glinting flash of his blue-grey eyes sweeping closer -- !

Then... he found himself being so thoroughly and expertly kissed that Ken himself began to wonder if it were indeed a dream. Nimble lips and tongue tugged wildly at his, and he moaned low in his throat, swaying in his second's embrace. Joe was bigger than he was, had finally overtaken Ken in height when they were seventeen. His body heat seemed to surround them both like the Phoenix Effect. 

A moment came when they had to break for long ragged gasps of air, and Joe said hoarsely, "I don't know when I'll wake up so I'll tell you now. God, I _want_ you --" Ken found himself backed against the fridge, and Joe was kissing him like some kind of demon lover, rubbing against him, hot and hard through both pairs of jeans. 

Ken gave it back, for all he was worth, his fingers kneading Joe's back. But the delight was threaded with a nagging doubt: Joe seemed to truly believe this a dream, and it wasn't. It wasn't fair to Joe to let him keep thinking so.

No, come on now, Joe was neither that stupid nor that drunk. It was some kind of act...? But why? It was impossible to think with those clever fingers insinuating themselves into his clothes. Joe was making love with the intensity he showed in combat. How many women could he be this rough with?

As if in response to the thought, Joe pulled Ken's shirt halfway off, pinioning his arms behind him in the tangled sleeves. Rocking against him, looking him straight in the eye, Joe rasped, "Never got this far before... Tell me what you want, Ken." That last was said in silky-deep tones that made Ken shiver. Callused fingertips skimmed idly across one already-stiffened nipple.

_For you to believe it's real,_ thought Ken, but he did not say it. He knew this for the moment to open his mouth and say, _Joe, this is not a dream, are you sure you want this?_

But if he was so willing, so passionate in his dream, wasn't it obvious that he did want this? There was no mistaking his physical response, for all Ken's lack of experience. And if this was what he was like with all his clothes still on...he shivered with heat. 

This was the moment to call it off, to save Joe from making a mistake. This was the point just before the point of no return. Ken opened his mouth to say _Stop, this is a mistake, wake up!_ \-- and said,

"Condor, take me to the bed and fuck me."

The fey look intensified, Ken saw with a moment's dismay -- as if hearing Ken say such an improbable thing made it seem more surreal. But then Joe stepped back, grinning. "Hai. BIRD GO --" Ken hurriedly squeezed his eyes shut against the bright flare of transmutation. What was he doing? Oh. He had said, "Condor", and Joe took him literally!

Oh...

He was beautiful. Predatory, of course, but that was always part of Joe's beauty. With the helmet on he was like some Egyptian god, but without it -- he removed it now, the visor was too much of an obstacle -- he was a dark-winged falling angel with his hair tousled and loose. Ken's own sensation of _dreamingness_ returned to tickle his attention. 

Joe freed Ken's arms from the shirt and dropped it to the floor, then looked at him expectantly. Ken, staring wide-eyed at his second, glanced down to unbuckle his belt. When he looked up again, Joe was already in motion. Ken found himself roughly and efficiently stripped, and he smiled to think how many goons had unknowingly received the thrill of their lives when their uniforms were needed for camouflage.

He was naked, and Joe was in birdstyle but for his helmet. Joe was touching him with dark-gloved hands, pupils huge, breathing ragged. How much more dreamlike could this be?

The Condor pulled Ken to the bed, as ordered. Then the dark wings closed around him, and Ken moaned to feel it, a dream come true...

No, not a dream. But one of those moments in life that are more real than real.

Joe sat up on his heels, made the lightning-bright transition back to street clothes... He pulled off his shirt, and sat gazing at Ken with smoldering intensity for a moment, and Ken wanted to moan aloud just looking at him. The shaggy dark hair framing his face, curling against his neck, the strong planes of his collarbones, his shoulders and chest... and the _look_ on Joe's face, such as thing as Ken had never even dared to dr --

No, this was so mad it _had_ to be reality! Joe stepped off onto the floor, taking off his pants. If this were a dream, he'd have somehow left his wings on.

Oh...

Well, he'd seen Joe naked before, but not in this context. He was always beautiful, but now... now, with that added dimension of intent... sexual animal, beloved best friend, under his command, in command... naked, and in his bed. 

_MINE_ , thought Ken as the bed sagged again with Joe's weight. Roughened hands made him shiver as they stroked up his legs. Then their eyes met. Ken propped up to his elbows.

Joe chose that moment to slide his hand around Ken's shaft, grinning as Ken's eyes widened and a gasp escaped him. The grip was firm and hot, just barely pumping him, unhurried. Ken writhed, his breath rasping into a moan.

Joe's deep chuckle filled the room. "Where's that prude I know so well?" He dipped his shaggy head and applied his tongue in short, teasing strokes around and about Ken's navel. "Pretend you don't notice _this_." His eyes laughed conspiratorially at Ken even while his mouth was occupied, tongue suggestively poking once or twice into his navel.

"Jooooe." Ken breathed the name in tones of equal wonder and threat. This produced another chuckle.

Then that still-chuckling mouth closed around his cock, hot and wet, drawing tight to suck. Ken wailed aloud, involuntarily thrusting; Joe's hand tightened in response to his need, tongue sweeping over the head in deft circles.

"P -- lease Joe --" he choked out, staring wild-eyed down at the sight of Joe -- his Joe -- really -- sucking him! "oh gods yes Joe, oh GODS!" Joe urged him on with his hands, his mouth, powerfully pulling him in. Ken threw his head back in blind surrender, splayed hands pushing against the bed, drawn like a bow, and the arrow -- FIRED! -- his swelling cock erupted in Joe's mouth. Fiery pulses of deep thrumming, beat after beat of thunder... He came, writhing, and Joe clung to him, stubbornly, until he had swallowed it all.

Ken groaned low and long when his sagging member was finally released. Joe's head was down, and he shivered all over, almost a shudder, at the taste. Then he looked up, eyes glinting. "You want me to fuck you...?" A rough whisper.

"Yesss." That one word carried a tremendous weight off his heart as it left his mouth. "Yes, Joe. Please...?" Though the first edge of his hunger had been sated, his deeper need for Joe was roused to fever pitch. 

Joe laughed, a short sharp bark. "Oh, yes. But don't you have any...?" his eyes fell to the bedside table. "Oh." He reached out. A bottle tilted into view. Lubricant? Ken could have sworn it hadn't been there before...

Joe poured some liquid into his hand, reached down to stroke his straining cock till it glistened with lube and eager pre-come. He pumped it a few times, flexing his shoulders, showing off a little for Ken. He was a vision of desire. His eyes burned into Ken's, their normally opaque grey-blue now luminous with heat.

Then slick fingers were testing at Ken's ass. Ken moved his hips and legs so as to allow access. "I don't know what I'm doing," muttered Joe apologetically, but his fingers were sure. As he stretched Ken's opening for his own entry, the initial invasion of fingers had Ken moaning again, his cock stirring back to life. 

"Joe, please, hurry..." Ken writhed on his back, spread wide to his best friend. "Fuck me..."

"Ssssss," exhaled Joe, feasting his eyes over Ken, then edged in and fit the head of his cock to where his fingers were. Its seeking bluntness pushed in, inexorably... Ken felt himself being slowly impaled. By _Joe_. He sobbed suddenly, and Joe froze. "K-ken--?" It was an effort for him to talk, it seemed. His eyes were half-lidded, glassy in pleasure, his mouth open, panting. But he held perfectly still, searching Ken's face for signs of distress.

"D-don't stop," gasped Ken. "Please don't, don't ssstop, Joe..." 

Now it was Joe who sobbed, a long exclamation of relief and excruciating pleasure. He lowered himself on his arms to fit his mouth to Ken's as he pushed in, in, all the way in, smothering Ken's cries with his tongue and lips. He pulled himself up slightly, then, to look down at Ken.

Ken just stared up at him, feeling his face transfixed by ecstasy. Joe's hair stuck out from his head in sweaty tendrils. His hard length throbbed in Ken, snugging up against his prostate, and his belly trapped Ken's reawakened erection between them.

And Joe's eyes _smoldered_ : he licked his lips. 

"Feel... feel it...I'm all the way in you..." he breathed, in a rush, like someone speaking fever-dreams. Ken moaned at the sound of Joe's voice, at the words. "...all the way inside, fucking your ass, Ken... _fucking_ you..." and here he began to pump, tentatively at first and then harder as Ken urged him on.

"Hai...Hai, Joe....hai, koibito...give it -- give it to me --" Ken stumbled over the unaccustomed words, but he meant them, and hearing Ken talking this way seemed to drive Joe wild. He angled his hips differently and thrust harder and faster, still whispering, though his voice quickly spun up out of his control.

"god baby, tight baby, so good, I'll give it, here it is, take it, all of it, oh _god_ Ken..."

Ken could no longer form words. He cried aloud in agonized delight, pushing up to meet Joe as he jackhammered in, hard and relentless, filling him utterly over and over and over. Between the deep stimulation of his prostate and Joe's hard belly grinding against his cock, Ken was close to coming a second time. And Joe was just about there...

"Yeah...yeah... god baby I'm gonna come, gonna c-come so hard...Ken..."

Something...strange was happening -- as if over Joe's shoulder the roof of the sky was plucked up entire. Joe, shimmering, did not seem to notice but thrust harder, more urgently, then stiffened, head thrown back. Buried utterly inside him, throbbing, Joe screamed, trembling, "god, Ken...Ken...KEN!!!...

"KEN...

blurring into grey...

"KEN!!!! Wake up! Please, Ken!" A dull faraway thud: his face was slapped?...

Ken blinked, utterly disoriented, light in his eyes blotting out Joe -- nooo -- Joe was not there? Where had he gone, he was just -- he --

What the hell was happening??

"Ken! Ken, can you hear me? Oh, god, what did they do to him?" Jun's voice.

"Onechan, we've got to hurry!"

"Help me sit him up --"

Sitting up cleared his head almost immediately, but his limbs felt tingling-numb and uncoordinated at first.

"Look! There's a well of remote electrodes in the head section of the capsule. Some kind of mind control...? Right through the _helmet_? I'd better get some readings..."

Ken shook his head, the weight of his helmet dragging at him. He felt punch-drunk, baffled...and bitter. For it had _not_ happened. It had all been his imagination. That incredible experience had been nothing more than masturbation, a _dream_ induced by mad science!

He turned to see Jinpei opening another capsule on the other side of the small lab. There were six in total, but only two occupied. 

"Get his head up!" ordered Jun, steadying Ken as he climbed out of his heart's coffin. Jinpei pulled, grunting, and Joe's lolling, helmeted head appeared above the side of the gunmetal-gray tube. 

Ken stumbled to the side of the capsule, took over for Jinpei's straining arms in holding Joe's dead weight up. "Joe. JOE! JOE, WAKE UP!!!" He shook him... _like he shook me in the kitchen...NO._

"Aniki, we've got to go --"

"We will. JOE!!!!" He'd carry him if he had to, but...

Joe gasped, his eyes flying open. The whites showed all around them, even through his visor. His hand flew up to grip Ken's wrist; with the other he clawed at the edge of the capsule, hauling himself upright under his own power and relieving the strain on Ken's arms.

Ken and Jun both helped to pull Joe out. His legs would not seem to obey him, though he persisted in trying to walk; eager, Ken thought, to put as much distance as possible between himself and the lab. He certainly wanted to. 

So between them he and Jun half-carried Joe out and down the corridor, Jinpei scouting and occasionally clearing the route ahead. By the time they had reached the main intersection of security zones for the base, Joe regained enough motor control to move on his own. Ken and Jun split away -- as Ken poised to bolt down the hatch that would get them into the weapons development wing, his and Joe's original mission here, Jun put a restraining hand on his arm.

"No, Ken. We continue on into the admin block, which is where we came in, and get you both to the Godphoenix. Now." Her voice was flat, brooking no denial. 

"Jun --"

She cut him off. "Due to the conditions in which we found you both, I am taking command of this mission." Her pulse jumped in her throat -- but she stood her ground. "We can't know what's been done to you until I can get you back to Hakase, along with the data I've gathered. Do you understand me?"

Ken exhaled slowly, torn between the good sense in her words and his sense of personal failure in aborting the mission. He turned to Joe for his opinion, sure it would be something involving Bird Missiles.

Joe stared dully at the floor. 

Without Joe to back him up, he couldn't get around Jun. Not when she was right. They ended up following her orders, and once back aboard the Godphoenix a worried Nambu, roused to take their call in the middle of the night, approved of Jun's actions and ordered them to ISO headquarters immediately.

Ryu turned worried eyes over them, but immediately got underway without comment. Jun and Jinpei, taking Jun's command seriously, busied themselves with the computers: Jun on transmitting data ahead to the scientists at the ISO, and Jinpei with the controls of a small spider-robot he set loose at the intersection, hoping to infiltrate the weapons lab by alternate means. Relieved, yet defeated, Ken sat down heavily, staring at his boots. 

Something he could not define caused him to look up.

Joe was staring at him. 

His expression was impossible to read accurately through his helmet visor. Ken was grateful for that, for surely his own face was a diagram of longing and shame.

But only for an instant, because it was his business to get things under control. He took a deep, steadying breath. "Joe. You all right?"

Slowly, Joe's head jerked in a nod. He cleared his throat. "Think so. Yeah. What happened?"

"I'm not sure," said Ken, and it was true enough to say convincingly. No one had gloated about the plan, whatever it was, for which they'd been trapped in the capsules. Why six? How had they gotten there? "We were in the crawlway past the transformer... there was a -- noise -- then I..." his throat closed. He forced it open -- "..was dreaming. So vividly I thought it was real. Then -- Jun woke me in that capsule."

Joe said, "The noise was a gas nozzle right next to your head...it put you down fast. Booby trap. I signalled, or tried to... passed out on top of you." A beat. "then you...waking me up. I don't remember dreaming."

"You signalled," said Jun. "Just once. It took us awhile to find you in the base."

Jinpei looked up from his remote control-box. "Aniki! I got my spider into the lab. What do I do?"

"Give it to me," said Ken, holding out his hand for the controller.

And several things happened at once.

Joe, who had gotten up to go look at a screen displaying signals from the spider, stumbled and froze --

Ken turned toward him --

\-- their eyes met --

Ken suddenly heard an echo in his ears, what he had said.

( _give it to me._ )

And Joe heard it too.

Joe. Heard it too.

_Oh... god,_ their eyes said to each other. _You were there._

Ken blinked. Joe turned away, retreating behind the gunner's station.

Jinpei helped to complete the interruption of the charged moment. "Here, aniki."

"Thanks. Good work, Jinpei." The little boy thrilled to the praise. Still, like an artist, he could not resist pointing out the flaws in his own work.

"Well, only two of the manipulator arms are working right. The video signal's only black an'white... and I didn't have time to put on the decals." 

"Jinpei, it's perfect. You only made it today."

"Got in where we couldn't," growled Joe, unexpectedly adding his support to Jinpei, who grinned incredulously. 

"Well...it does have a data needle. And... it's carrying plastique. We can use it kamikaze," he offered, bravely. "I c'n make another one."

Ken smiled at him, knuckled the Swallow's helmet. He was grateful for the normality of the moment, for something to do, something to think about besides...

He shook his head slightly, snapping into command calm with the deceptive ease of desperate necessity. They spent the rest of the way back creeping the spider around the first of a vast warren of rooms, but had so far found little of value by the time they approached Crescent Coral.

Joe had said nothing further, wrapping his wings around himself and leaning back as though to sleep, though he did not actually close his eyes. Jun and Ryu traded several looks, Ken saw. 

Once the Godphoenix was underwater, the spider's signal became erratic. Ken handed the controller back to Jinpei. It was as well concealed as possible, clinging to the underside of a desk lamp the same color as it was. "Maybe we can use it later. Good thing you _didn't_ put on the decals."

Then they were down. Jun eyed them both sternly. "Infirmary. Now."

They didn't look at her; they didn't look at each other. They just went.


	2. Come

So the first fucking thing they wanted when the tests got started, which was right away, was a semen sample.

"Why is that always the first thing you ask for?" Ken said gloomily to Doctor Shitatarazu as she handed round the cups. _He_ always acted like this was worse than a spinal tap. Joe shrugged and took his. Arguing with the old bat was like running out into traffic to play hide-and-go-fuck-yourself.

"You're both a lot easier to manage this way. C'mon, c'mon. You're both, what, eighteen? Surely you're both due to go off any moment..." As he always did when confronted with Shitatarazu's bluntness, Ken reddened and stammered, but Joe, who usually enjoyed embarrassing Ken further in this sort of situation, just fled the room. 

The fact was, he _was_ due to go off any moment. Or nearly so. 

And he had to get away from Ken. Now.

But there was no getting away from him after all. 

Joe had never minded this particular occasional duty. He'd commented to Ken once that at least during such moments he knew he was doing exactly what Anderson did all day on the job. And Ken... had looked blank. 

Locked into one of the small private bathrooms, Joe finally changed out of birdstyle. He'd needed the wings to cloak him all right. Clamping his teeth down on a groan of relief he wrestled open his jeans, and his cock sprang loose, angry and seeking. He gripped it, obediently. _Yes, master._

He had not, as he had wondered on waking, actually come -- physically -- while plugged into that fucking Galactor machine. The urgency on him now was therefore excruciating, and before he could even try to forbid them, images of the...dream... came tumbling to him. One by damning one.

_condor, take me to the bed and fuck me._

God, oh god. 

_joe...please hurry..._

"yeah.... yeah." Joe whispered almost silently. His fingers smeared pre-come all over the head, then worked it down over the shaft as he pumped. 

_you want me to fuck you?_

_yes. yes, joe. please...?_

He leaned back, tightened his fist as he savored the memory. God, yeah, so hot, so tight --

_don't stop_

Joe's hips began to rock as he resumed the rhythm. He shoved his jeans down further with this other hand and then he was gripped completely in both hands, gripped tight --

_hai koibito give it to me_

So willing, so wanton he'd been. Joe had been so sure it was a dream! 

_HAI KOIBITO GIVE IT TO ME_

_TAKE IT_

_GOD BABY --!_

He bit his lips to keep from screaming as he came...remembering a few beats too late about the plastic cup.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

There wasn't really any way of getting it back, exactly. Joe snorted. There should have been Olympic judges present.

But there was no way he could go out of here with an empty cup. That was Just Not An Option.

He slumped. It was his own fault. How could he...how _dared_ he jerk off thinking about... thinking about fucking _Ken_? Sex didn't even mean anything to Ken. He wasn't like Joe. He wasn't... an animal ruled by libido.

That was what Joe was, all right, because here he was _still_ thinking about it, and he was getting turned on again!

At least this time he managed to keep the fruits of his labors. He cleaned up the room as best he could, and handed off the requested sample to an attendant waiting outside. 

Then he was hustled off for a CAT scan. Shitatarazu was no fool; in this state he'd quickly fall asleep in there. Or he would, usually. Now the claustrophobic tube reminded him of the capsule. But he set his teeth and endured it, eyes wide and staring up the whole time. He was alone with the hum of the machine.

He thought about the scanners imaging his brain as the humming went on and on. The pictures always unnerved him a little, though he never said so. Shapes and colors lighting up differently depending on what he was thinking about...he didn't like that. What if he was thinking about...?

Oh, Christ, not again.

But it was a single image this time rather than teasing bursts of footage. It was the moment when he had been, finally, all the way in, lodged tight inside -- buried. And he'd pushed up to look down at Ken, for fear he was causing pain that Ken was trying to hide.

And Ken looked up at him...

Looked up at him...sweaty, breathless, those enormous blue eyes burning, his chocolate hair a rumpled halo of jagged curls. With an expression on his face Joe had never seen. Not on anyone. He read many things there. Purity, and desire; longing and triumph; absolute clarity. Like an angel. Like an angel, claiming him...

So what did Joe do in response, as he -- sodomized an angel? Talked dirty to him! Not to mention fucked him senseless. _god baby tight baby so good --_

God. He could live, maybe, with Ken remembering what Joe had done. But what he'd _said_...

No, no, no, they were gonna find out it was all a Galactor plot, yeah, fucking with them again, that's all. Nobody's fault. Well, nobody's fault but _theirs_. (Galactor's.) Yeah.

Just what was he going to say when they asked him what happened? Shitatarazu wouldn't fuck around if she caught him lying; she'd get it out of him. _If_ she caught him lying.

What the fuck was he going to say?

_I'll give it, here it is, take it, all of it --_

Nobody put those words in his mouth. Those words were his, and he'd meant them and he knew it. 

Oh, god. What was he going to _do_?

Tell the truth? one tiny part of Joe's mind suggested, and was bitterly laughed down by the rest of him. 

Yeah. Right.

Then the scan was done. Once out, he followed a nurse's aide down the corridors to whatever was next.

If he did lie -- and they caught it -- well, he knew quite well these tests were a precaution against their having been "tampered with" mentally. What would they do? _Lock me up and throw shrinks at me_ , he knew, gloomily.

But they didn't have guards on him. So it couldn't be that bad. Yet.

What was next, as the door opened, turned out to be Shitatarazu's office, and Ken was there already -- looking a little guilty. Shitatarazu's face was composed, watchful.

Joe took the empty chair beside Ken's and crossed his arms, eyeing the doctor. He still didn't have anything better than "I don't remember" -- but it was just slightly better than nothing.

She said without preamble, "One of the things that Jun retrieved -- along with the two of you -- was an EEG readout. For a good long space of REM sleep, your patterns matched more or less exactly. You seem to have dreamed the same dream."

Well, they knew that.

"Dream, Hakase?" Ken was frowning, Joe could hear it. "What about the effects of the machine?"

"It wasn't on," said Shitatarazu. 

They gaped at her.

"We don't understand the full purpose of the machine yet, but it's clearly designed to be active only when the correct number of subjects are present. Six. Not two. We're guessing that the intended six would be the KNT... and Berg Katse, most likely.

"Jun has a theory, which I support: that even while not actually powered up, your contact with the electrodes created a kind of mental bridge, plugged you into the same circuit... we're still studying the data. But I'm satisfied you boys haven't been harmed or brainwashed."

She flicked her fingers dismissively at them, and picked up a magazine.

"That's -- it?" said Joe at last, unable to stop himself.

Shitatarazu nodded briskly. 

"Yep. Anything you still can't cope with is therefore your own problem. Good morning!" And that was all she would say.

And so they found themselves on the other side of her door, alone in the corridor.

Joe cleared his throat. "I want a drink." He said it with feeling.

Ken nodded once, emphatically. "Yeah."

Neither moved. 

Joe realized: where would they go? He couldn't suggest Ken's place or his own. Neutral ground. "Bar?" 

But as Shitatarazu had said, it was morning; only eight o'clock or so. Noplace open that would serve alcohol, though there was always beer at the convenience store, which meant: 'my place or yours?' 

Not the trailer, he realized. Not enough space. Dammit, it was going to have to be Ken's place after all.

The moment seemed to stretch on for weeks, then Joe pointed out,

"Well, we're not getting any drunker standing here."

This was perfectly true. 


	3. True

"Joe... we need to talk."

"...Uh huh."

...

"Tell me what's bothering you."

"Huh. Where do I start?"

"Well, start by giving me one of those, and put the rest in the fridge, and Joe will you SIT DOWN and stop... _prowling_!?"

"Fuck you. I don't think I can sit still. And stop SIGHING. I feel bad enough as it is."

"Nani...?"

"This is -- this is creepy, it's like still having the goddamn dream. I wish we could go somewhere else."

...

"Was... it... so terrible...?"

"What do you mean!! Of course it was terrible -- what I -- did -- !"

"Joe --"

"Don't TOUCH me."

"Joe...please listen to me."

"No, you wait a minute. Whatever you're gonna say, wait a minute. I can't -- HELP it -- I dreamed a couple times where I kissed you, see."

"Joe..."

"No, shut up. I didn't feel so bad about... kisses. Huh, naughty, but nice. -- Get me 'nother one too while you're up. -- but then the one time the dream goes all the way through, and I get a good hard look at what a filthy animal I really am -- that one time, Ken, you're there to see it, front row center. Oh yay."

"Filthy? Animal? Joe, what the hell --??"

"Fuck's SAKE, Ken, didn't you HEAR me?? The shit that I SAID?? While I did what I DID??"

"Joe! Didn't you hear ME? You're fixating on how the dream ended and not how it began."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean: just as I said: I'm in love with you, really in love with you..."

...

"Oh god Ken... why _me_?"

"Couldn't be anyone but you. I... _know_ you."

...

"How the hell do you say shit like that and make it sound so fucking rational?"

"Ancient Japanese secret."

"...Baka."

"Ow. ... hey. It's... good to see you smile. ... I ... sorry if I embarrassed you. I didn't mean to make you stop. Oh, now you're _blushing_ \--"

"Knock it off --!"

"Yes you are... oy, get me one too. And no cheating and sticking your face in the freezer to cool it down."

"...fuck you."

"..."

"I HEARD that, Ken."

"I didn't say anything!"

"That's what I mean. I heard you not-say that."

"Joe...how the hell do _you_ say shit like _that_ , and make it sound so _ir_ rational?"

" _I'll_ show you irrational --"

"Mmmmf! ..."

... 

... 

"K-Ken..."

"No, Joe. Sit down. _You_ shut up now."

"but..."

"SIT!"

"O... okay..."

"You kissed me just now to see if _this_ was a dream, didn't you? Well, it's not. This is true, Joe, this is real. This is you and me. Why is it so -- filthy, what you said? and what about what _I_ said and did? Am I filthy for liking it? I did like it..."

"I..."

"And _now_ you've got nothing to say... well, that's all right. You wanna 'nother beer?"

"No."

"Fine. I'm having one. Well, seems like we both got caught baring our souls when we thought the other wasn't looking -- WHAT are you laughing at??"

"Baring souls. Ha ha ha ha ha. OW!!!"

"You know that's exactly what happened."

"Guess that's true..."

"Thought you didn't wanna 'nother beer."

"Changed my mind, huh?"

"JOE. Slow DOWN."

"Don't tell _me_ how to drink, an' by the way, Ken, if you hit me again, I'll beat the shit outta you."

"That SCARED you, didn't it..."

"What!"

"Something I said scared you. Enough to make you wanna fight rather than talk about it... the 'souls' part maybe...?"

"Don't you try and analyze _me_ , goddammit. You're not QUALIFIED."

"Huh. Who else knows you like I do?... but there were some things even _I_ didn't know... didn't know you'd ever even _consider_ being with a m--"

"I WOULDN'T."

"..."

"Don't look like that. It's not -- it's not like that. Jeez, Ken."

"No, Joe, I understand. Really."

"No, you DON'T, or else you'd be --"

"I'd be -- what?"

"Nno. I don't wanna say it like that. Not as a joke..."

"Joe...?"

"I'll say it like this: Eagle... take me to the bed..."

"j-oe?"

"...an' fuck me."

"nani?? joe?"

"DON'T YOU DARE pull that stupid look on me now of all times."

"It's... not the same one."

"Oh."

"Joe..."

"Yeah?"

"I thought it was really heppening, you know that? I know you thought it was a dream."

"Ken... it did happen. We both remember it!"

"...that's a certain point of view..."

"And THIS is really happening. -- Did you hear me before? The bed. Let's go."

"Just -- like that?"

"Yes!"

"Um..."

"Oh, for god's sake..."

"Give me a break! I'm just surprised is all."

"Well, YOU started it last time."

"I know."

"Well?"

"...BIRD GO."

"hahahaha... 'oo, gatchaman, save me! I've got all these clothes on and nobody's fucking me!' hahaha -- ow! Look out for the doorframe, moron!"

"You sound a little hysterical to me."

"I'm upside down! Give _me_ a break -- oof."

"Let's get these off you..."

"Hey -- oh. Um, okay..."

"And this..."

"Ow."

"Don't be a baby, Joe..."

"Well, take the _helmet_ off at least."

"Gomen..."

"That's better. Well... here we are."

"Yes..."

...

"Ken?"

"yeah...?"

"This is...really happening. Isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"...Ken?"

"What _now_?"

"If it _was_ a dream you'd tell me it was real anyway."

"Joe, shut the fuck up."

"Oooo."

"...That's better."

...

"joe..."

"mmm?"

"Cover your eyes. BIRD GO."

"Hurry -- hurry up."

"I'm hurrying. Gods, you look amazing..."

"Huh."

"Oh, don't be embarrassed _now_. Here, I'll give you something else to think about --"

"Oooohhhhh... k-ken..."

"Mmmmm."

...

"Oh oh oh oh oh. Ooh god don't stop. Yeaaahhhh."

"Hm hm hm."

"D-don't laugh with your mouth full. ... Oh... YEAH -- god KEN!"

"Mmmm..."

"goddddd."

...

"Hmm. You _do_ talk a lot."

"Can't help it."

"Well... good. Ah, Joe... are you sure you meant for me to...?"

"I said it, didn't I?"

"Yeah..."

"Besides... it's your turn."

"I like the way you think."

"Ken, shut the fuck up."

"No way. Er, be right back..."

"Well, where the fuck is he going now...? -- Oy! Ken! This offer is NOT unlimited!"

"Gomen... I just... thought we'd need..."

"Oh. Uh, right. What _is_ that?"

"It's... heh heh.... it's er, olive oil... hee hee hee hee..."

"Nani?? Oh don't tell me..."

"It's.. hee hee... extra virgin!! hahaha -- OW!!"

"Knock it off!"

"Hahahahaha!"

"What is this?? I'm about to get fucked by a hyena!"

"uh -- sssorry, Joe... hee... I'm, I'm nervous."

"YOU'RE nervous?? hhhHHhhhh --- uhhhh...?"

"T-take it easy... relax. Just one finger. No more till you tell me to."

"ouhookay. ooooohhh. sssssssss. Oh, man."

"Better?"

"Uh. Yeah. ...feels... good."

"You sound surprised..."

"I am. Oh god. More."

"My pleasure."

"Uoohhhhrrhhhh... Yeah baby, god that's good, stick your fingers in me..."

"Oh, Joe..."

"Yeah more, hurry, oohh. yeah. Yeah. YEAH. MORE."

"Joe, can I ...?"

"For god's sake, Ken, FUCK me already!"

"Just... here, turn. It's a little easier..."

"Whatever! Just do it! Here! Now! Come ON!"

"Oh yes."

"OnnnNNNhhhhh... sssss!..."

"oh -- gods -- joe -- relax!"

...

"Mmmmm..."

"That's better... oh you feel so good... gods Joe you're incredible --"

"Oh yessssss... GOD Ken, do it, more, fuck me baby, oh GOD yeah --"

"Sssso good..."

"OH... MY GOD!"

"Uh... huh... that's... the spot..."

"YES! YES! GOD! YES! Don't stop, DON'T STOP..."

"oh gods Joe... gonna come... so good--!"

"GIVE it to me -- !"

"AAhhHHhhhh!! JOE!!"

"Uhhhuhhhyeaaaaahhhh...!"

...

"Wow..."

"yeah..."

...

"I think...we need a shower."

"mmm... good idea. Maybe in the shower we can do something about _this_."

"Joe! You're insatiable."

...

"Hm. What are you grinning at?"

"...a dream come true... that's all."

"Oh, THAT'S all."


End file.
